Silly Artist's Log (A Creative Diary) - March 2024

Artist's log, stardate 4.2.2024  - Been busy in the studio, working on new paintings, music, and texts.

I have decided to keep this log, a creative diary, sharing the work I've made each month. This may be interesting to some folks, which is lovely, but primarily will help me organize ideas and keep track of progress. 

I have updated the Lovely Book Club website with an online gallery and shop. This is the first time I have ever made my paintings available for purchase. Seems exciting, and a little scary. 


Paintings

New series: Goofy Tigers! 

There are, apparently, two proper collective nouns for a group of tigers; streak and ambush. I prefer ambush. An ambush of Goofy Tigers may exist on canvas, whilst individual Goofy Tigers exists as wooden sculptures. Each tiger, by nature, is unique, despite the medium, process, and dimensions being the same.

🐯

A new new series about human bodies, intimacy, cuddling, kissing, loving...

A new new new series about animals with focus on simple brushstrokes. This is a continuation of, or at least somewhat related to, Goofy Tigers. These are Goofy Creatures. Some goofy creatures are imaginary or hybrid ideas, like these zebra/horse/hyena/dogs, and some are slightly more realistic-ish (but only slightly).

Music

New digital release on all major streaming platforms, Men Don't Understand Violence, a collection of poetry set to sample-based music. Voices of old friends embedded in the loops, which brings me joy. Most of the writing is from an unpublished manuscript. Should you desire to read the pieces, please feel free to email me at sillyrobgray@gmail.com and I'll send you the text. 

Available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, etc.

Other music recordings: 

I made a couple of recordings of ideas for a live set, hence these two medleys. These include some old jams (Faustian Bargains was written about 18 years ago when I was a student in Isla Vista, CA, playing in a band called Gang of Virgins with my friend Max), some middle-aged jams written over the past few years, and some brand new jams written recently (specifically Distraction). 

And one brand new recording, revisiting an old method of song-making that I used to employ when I started making music about twenty years ago. Ocean Song started as a short drum and guitar loop. Drums programmed on an MPC, and guitar filtered through a heavy fuzz pedal. After recording the initial layer, I added a few more layers of guitar, and then wrote the lyrics and melody based on that. More often than not, I write a song on acoustic guitar over a few days or weeks, and then think about how to record it. This backwards method is very fun and yields unexpected results. I think of this process as sculpting a song, rather than writing. 

Texts

I have a completed manuscript which I hope to publish as a book in the not-too-distant future on Lovely Book Club. 

I have also been working on new poems, writing by hand, transcribing and editing on the computer. 

If you have a desire to read, please feel free to email me at sillyrobgray@gmail.com. I'm happy to share poetry, but weary of publishing. I feel more comfortable sharing work with folks who actually want to experience it, so if that's you, all it takes is a brave email and we can be poetry pals! 

---

That's about it, a few sketches, drawings, and digital designs aside. I have been playing football, futsal, and chess. I have taken some nice walks. I have been reading. Thoroughly enjoyed I Celebrate Myself: The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg, along with his Collected Poems. Recently revisited some James Baldwin, Lydia Davis, Clarice Lispector, Roberto Bolano. Enjoyed dipping into some Emily Kendall Frey, June Jordan, and Nicanor Parra poems. Currently reading The Barcelona Inheritance by Jonathan Wilson, and always have a few chess books on the go. 

If you have read this far, THANK YOU! I'd love to correspond with you. I'm on social media, but I'm not on on social media, and generally try to avoid looking at it, so please feel free to email me at sillyrobgray@gmail.com and let me know what you've been making, writing, and reading. I look forward to keeping this artist's log alive, so check back next month for an update! 

I LOVE YOU! 

♡

Rob

Men Don't Understand Violence by Silly Rob

 

The Lovely Book Club happily gives you Men Don't Understand Violence, a new poetic music EP by Silly Rob. Available to steam via all your favorite audio streaming services. We've linked to YouTube here, but you can find it on Apple Music and all that, except Spotify, though it should pop up on there sometime soon. 

Below is Rob with their painting which is the cover art. 

E-mail sillyrobgray@gmail.com with any questions, comments, inquiries etc.

 

~~Website UPDATE~~

Hello dear friends and loved ones,

I have updated this space with some new paintings and illustrations!

And here is a photo of Owl the cat being cute:

Love,
Rob

Hello!

Oi Oi chums!

I do hope you are doing well.

Here are a few works in progress, just to remind myself that I'm staying creative. 

As always, sending love to you... whoever, wherever, whenever you are. 

Full Life Radical Radio + FLtv

 Hello dear friends,

I'd love to invite you to listen to a radio show that I have been producing for the past couple of years with my friends at Full Life, the day program for adults with developmental disabilities in Portland, Oregon where I have worked for the past 15 years. Listen to the show on our Mixcloud page.

That project has recently evolved into Full Life Television, which we produce as a collaboration and publish on our YouTube page. Click that link to check out our vids! Don't forget to subscribe and support people with disabilities!

Thank you!

Life goes on :: September 2022

I am excited and delighted to share some new work alongside a spectacular crew of great poets, storytellers, and performers on Friday, September 23 at Wild Rose 🌹 Many thanks to @kmasullivan and @yesyesbooks 💗

And here are some paintings in progress:

Updated Photography 12/15/21

I have updated my photography page on here 📸💖

Lots of lovely digital and analog moments: poets, dancers, performers, and audiences, plus some street photos, friends, moments, etc. Click the Photography tab above, or the photo below of my lovely friend and wonderful poet Emily Kendal Frey.

As it happens, Emily has published a new book called Lovability, out now on Fonograf, which I highly recommend you purchase! 

New work in progress 12/14/21

 

New work in progress -- building a flower garden view with wood and paint (December 2021)

ZA FACE / Halloween 2021

 

Nostalgia -- a long lost Money Painting

My friend, Will, was recently at an event in Oakland, California and sent me this photo. This is a painting I made 15 years ago when I lived in Isla Vista, California. It was part of a series called Money Paintings. I am astonished that this work still exists, and very curious to find out what it's been up to for the last decade and a half. 

Looking at this, I remember my complete and total love of Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose work and life I was inspired by, but didn't fully understand. At this time in my life, I spent hours upon hours in my studio, high as a cloud drinking 40s of Olde English, painting, writing, and making music into the night. I'd go tagging through the neighborhood and pick up a breakfast burrito, my only meal of the day, on the way home. Crash, sleep until early afternoon, wake up, start over. What a time.